Hobbit bests Rings with $US84.8m opening

PETER Jackson's The Hobbit led the box office with a haul of $US84.8 million ($A80.91 million), a record-setting opening better than the three previous Lord of the Rings films.

The Warner Bros Middle Earth epic was the biggest December opening ever, surpassing Will Smith's I Am Legend, which opened with $US77.2 million in 2007, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey also passed the December opening of Avatar, which opened with $US77 million. Internationally, The Hobbit also added $US138.2 million, for an impressive debut well north of $US200 million.

Despite weak reviews, the 3D adaptation of JRR Tolkien's first novel in the fantasy series was an even bigger draw than the last Lord of the Rings movie, The Return of the King. That film opened with $US72.6 million.

The Hobbit is the first of another planned trilogy, with two more films to be squeezed out of Tolkien's book.

While Jackson's Rings movies drew many accolades - The Return of the King won best picture from the Academy Awards - the path for The Hobbit has been rockier. It received no Golden Globes nominations on Thursday, though all three Rings films were nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for best picture.

Particularly criticised has been the film's 48-frames-per-second (double the usual rate), a hyper-detailed look that some have found jarring. Most filmgoers didn't see The Hobbit in that version, though, as the new technology was rolled out in only 461 of the 4045 theatres playing the film.

The film was a hit with audiences, who graded it with an "A" on CinemaScore.

"What's really important, what makes this special is the CinemaScore," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros.

The strong opening culminated a long journey for The Hobbit, which was initially delayed when a lawsuit dragged on between Jackson and Rings producer New Line Cinema over merchandising revenue.

At one point, Guillermo del Toro was to direct the film with Jackson producing. But eventually the filmmaker opted to direct the movie himself, originally envisioning two Hobbit films. The production also went through the bankruptcy of distribution partner MGM and a labour dispute in New Zealand, where the film was shot.

The long delay for The Hobbit, nearly a decade after the last Lord of the Rings film, made it "one of those movies that had everyone scratching their heads as to how it would open", said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

"It's been a decade since the Lord of the Rings trilogy concluded," said Dergarabedian.

"There's been so much anticipation for this film and having Peter Jackson back at the helm just made it irresistible both to fans and the non-initiated alike."

The Hobbit was far and away the biggest draw in theatres, with no other new wide release. Paramount's Rise of the Guardians continued to draw the family crowd, with $US7.4 million, bringing its cumulative total to $US71.4 million.

Walt Disney's Oscar contender Lincoln crossed the $US100 million mark, adding another $US7.2 million to bring its six-week total to $US107.9 million.

Sony's James Bond film Skyfall, with another $US7 million domestically, drew closer to a global take of $US1 billion.

The box office continued to be on the upswing with anticipated releases like Les Miserables, Django Unchained and The Guilt Trip approaching in the US holiday film-going season.